The Colorado Rockies went from a young team with a history of underachieving to an old team with veteran leadership but a lot of questions. And it all happened in one offseason.

At the end of last season, the Rockies looked like they’d enter 2012 with as many as seven everyday players younger than 30. But for general manager Dan O’Dowd, that wasn’t going to fly. The team culture had been marred and a 73-win 2011 spoke for itself.

In a game where youth is valued, O’Dowd remade the team into a senior citizen haven because he was fed up. The last edition of the Rockies was a huge disappointment. They was expected to run away from the pack in the National League West, but instead they had an 8-21 May that buried them. The team limped to the finish with a 9-16 September.

There were indications the Rockies quit down the stretch. They held a handful of team meetings during the season—those only happen when there is dysfunction—and even banned music in the clubhouse at one point.

For O’Dowd, these were clear signals that a makeover was needed if the Rockies were ever going to accomplish their goal of winning a championship. So he blew up the roster, bringing in four new starting position players, the youngest of them being 32-year-old Michael Cuddyer. That left the team with just three regulars younger than their new right fielder.

The club also got rid of Huston Street, 27, and replaced him in the closer role with Rafael Betancourt, 36. Then O’Dowd brought in starting Jeremy Guthrie, 32, and signed ancient Jamie Moyer to compete for a rotation spot after the 49-year-old missed last season because of Tommy John surgery.

The idea is two-fold: First, the aging players are a stop gap before the next wave of Rockies prospects is ready for the big leagues. The team doesn’t want to rush those players considering the last group of prospects never lived up to expectations and were part of the disappointment the last two years.

Second, the veterans will provide clubhouse stability, something the team lacked last season.

“It’s a better team in that sense of the word,” O’Dowd said. “Last year we didn’t have an all-for-one mentality and there was not enough accountability. That had to change.”

Veterans like Casey Blake, Marco Scutaro and Ramon Hernandez are being counted on to help change the clubhouse culture, along with incumbents like Todd Helton and Jason Giambi.

“Last year I spent way too much time in the clubhouse,” manager Jim Tracy said earlier this spring. “I know that. I waited and waited for some people to put these fires out. Eventually, I had to step out there and make them aware.

“The biggest threat is that we get in our own way, we start taking the intangibles for granted. We have to get back to showing up that day to win the game and not caring how or who does it.”

Those high-character guys will help change the mentality that plagued the Rockies last season. But while leadership might never go in a slump, it doesn’t assure wins, which is what the Rockies ultimately need.

Last season just five position players 35 or older had Wins Above Replacement marks of at least 2, and none are on the Rockies roster this season. Three of the team’s projected starters are at least 35—Helton, Scutaro and Blake—and if Guthrie starts opening day, the Game 1 lineup could feature six players of at least 32. Last season the average age of the lineup was 28.6 years old, and this season that will shoot up to around 32.

It would be ridiculous for the Rockies to expect the older players to hold up over the course of 162 games, and the team knows that. Instead, they are going to meld them with some of the younger players like outfielders Tyler Colvin and Charlie Blackmon and infielder Chris Nelson.

The Rockies are also prepared to dip into their farm system, which has some strong prospects like third baseman Nolan Arenado and lefthander Drew Pomeranz coming down the pipeline.

“We won’t be asking (the veterans) to play 150 games,” O’Dowd said. “The game has changed and you have to be able to mix in your complementary players. That’s what we’ll do here.”

Last season the Rockies expected the to contend for a playoff berth at the very least, and O’Dowd said that was partly dependent on guys like Ian Stewart, Seth Smith and Chris Ianetta—all players in their 20s—taking the next step in their progression. They failed to do so and all were traded this offseason and replaced by those aging veterans.

Now, the Rockies are a team in transition and one trying to correct fundamental team flaws.

“We will play better as a team this year,” O’Dowd said. “That part I know.”